Pocky
by Wendy McCalister
Summary: Botan asks Kurama to play a game of pocky.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.**

 **Summary: Botan asks Kurama to play a game of pocky.**

 **Pocky**

"Hey, Kurama?"

The redhead turned at the call of his name, sending a curt smile at the blue haired ferry girl at the doorway. He gave her an acknowledging nod, and she took that as a sign she could enter. The others were in the living room playing poker cards as usual, and she figured this was her chance to do something she always wanted with him.

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," Botan stated in a remorseful voice as she spared a brief glance at the papers and an opened notebook on his desk. The fox let out a chuckle, and proceeded to close the notebook and arrange the papers neatly, before whipping around in his spinning chair to face her.

"No, don't worry about it. I don't find you a disturbance at all," he spoke in a smooth voice, mouth curling upwards to give her a reassuring smile. Botan heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh, good." She paused. "So, what were you up to just now?" she asked curiously. Although, it was pretty obvious that it was some kind of assignment. She stared at the various textbooks seated on his desk, all of which were subjects she considered very difficult, such as Chemistry and Physics. "You're very smart, huh..." she couldn't help but mumble.

Of course, she knew that. He was the brightest one out of all of them, but she found herself always at awe at how intelligent he really was. It was one of the things she loved about him, aside from his good looks, which she would be ashamed to admit, was what got her attracted to him in the first place. And he was fiery, passionate, loyal and... She would never admit that in a gazillion years, though.

She hadn't realized Kurama was talking to her until he waved a hand in front of her face. "Botan? Are you alright?" His voice, laced with worry and bewilderment, reached her ears, snapping her out of reality.

"Huh? Oh, sorry again. My head was in the clouds," she said with a sheepish smile, an awkward giggle falling out her lips.

The confused expression on his features took on an understanding one. "I see. What were you thinking about?" Oh, and he just had to ask.

Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks, tinting her whole face red in embarrassment. "Oh, nothing much..." she muttered under her breath, voice low and almost inaudible, but she was aware he heard her.

Kurama continued to gaze at her, as if finding it odd that she was blushing, all of a sudden. Not wanting him to catch on to what she was thinking, Botan quickly averted the subject to something else, "A-anyway, the reason I came in here!" she stammered, her voice slightly rising up a notch due to her nervousness.

"Ah," He nodded. He still wondered what it was that she was daydreaming about, but assumed it was too private to prod. So, he decided he would play along for awhile. "Right. Of course. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he questioned, tilting his head at her with a quizzical look on his face.

His eyes fixated on the girl's she fidgeted for some time, the blush around her cheeks darkening into bright crimson, the longer he stared. He couldn't help but find her amusing and adorable at the same time.

"U-um," At last, she found her voice, "I... um, I was thinking that maybe..." she trailed off, as her eyes turned downwards to gaze at her feet. He mentally noted to himself that she seemed to be hiding something behind her.

"What is it, Botan?" he prodded gently, quirking a delicate red brow her way.

"Well," She started, but then paused to take a deep breath. Shutting her eyes tightly, Botan finally showed him whatever it was that she had been hiding. "I-I was thinking if you wanted to play the pocky game with me!" she said quickly, her face turning so red it seemed as if it could rival his hair.

He almost felled off the chair. "What?" he nearly shrieked, taken off guard by her invitation. He blinked his wide eyes at her twice, before shifting them to the box of pocky in her hands. "Y-you want to play..." He was finding it hard to speak as collected as he could, as a pink tint crept its way up his cheeks. Okay, that was _unexpected_...

Botan finally mustered up the courage to open her eyes and look at him. He sported an astonished, totally flabbergasted expression on his countenance. "I-I..." she started to stutter, avoiding his gaze as he proceeded to study her. "I-I mean, if you don't want to do it, I understand..." she mumbled, looking like a small child in his eyes, as she stared down at her feet. Hurt couldn't even begin to describe how she felt.

"No," he quickly spoke, finally retrieving back his composure (albeit, not fully) to grab at her hand when she tried to walk away. Botan bit her lip, and with a moment of hesitation, reluctantly turned to peer at him.

"W-what?" Did he mean 'no' as in he refused to do it but didn't want her to go? She was slightly confused, and not to mention, flustered as his hand lightly squeezed hers.

He cleared his throat. "I mean, I-I would love to do that with you," he finally spoke, although with the utmost bravery he could summon. He felt her relax a little.

"O-oh," was all she could respond, but she was undoubtedly overjoyed at hearing the news. "Really?"

"Really." He nodded his head, and much to her dismay, eventually released her hand. She didn't let the disappointment at the lost of contact to show as he went on, "I just... want to know... why?" Of course, she figured he would inquire that sooner or later.

"O-oh," Good grief, could she not stammer at least once? "W-well, I saw Keiko and Yusuke do it the other day and..."

"... you got curious?" he guessed, to which she nodded her head mutely in affirmation. "Oh." He paused to lean into his chair, trying to calm down a little, despite his palms that had begun to sweat, "But, why did you ask me?"

"I-I don't have anyone else to ask," That was a lie. She had a crush on him from the moment she laid eyes on that fiery red hair and those vibrant emerald orbs. "Hiei is a definite no, and Yusuke and Kuwabara have Keiko and Yukina respectively, and Koenma would kill me even if I..." she started to ramble, but fortunately, he cut her short,

"Okay."

"Okay?"

An amused chuckle erupted from his throat as she made a face that seemed like a little kid who was bewildered over something so simple. It was cute, really. "Okay." He took a deep breath, the smile faltering from his lips, as a light blush once again appeared on his cheeks, "Then... come over here."

"There?" She pointed at his lap, her face now matching his red one as he nodded his head slowly.

"Yes, on my lap."

She pondered for a moment why they couldn't do it on the bed instead, but then, shook her head inwardly as she realized she shouldn't complain. Taking a step forward, Botan slowly sauntered closer to him, stopping just as they were mere inches from each other. Although, she did not make any move to straddle him just as he ordered to, so when Kurama read through her nervousness, he softly grasped her hand in his, guiding her into his lap.

"T-then..." Botan was finding it hard to focus with him staring at her so intently, and with hands as cold as ice, trembling, she fought to take out a stick of pocky from the pocky box. "S-shall we start?" she asked, looking up at him to in question to see if it was alright. He nodded his head, but said nothing in response.

Placing one end between her lips, she waited in anticipation as he slowly put the other end between his. Neither moved for some time, but then, Kurama, growing tired of being idle, took a small bite of the pocky stick. Amethyst eyes widened and stared at calm, composed but dark ones as he took another bite. She felt his hands glide teasingly down from her wais to the side of her hips, pulling her body flushed against his. Gaining a little composure, the ferry girl refused to back down so easily, biting off a small part of the stick, its chocolate melting onto the tip of her tongue as the two gradually inched closer and closer to the centre, Kurama's mouth curving into a light smirk, while Botan's never gone blush deepened as they neared in proximity. At the last second, she bit down and broke the stick into half, pulling back and swallowing it as she averted her eyes away from his face.

Kurama's hands tightened their hold around her butt. "You broke off first. You lost," he half growled, the sound sending a shiver down her spine as he all but suddenly buried his head in the crook of her neck, brushing his lips against her smooth throat, trailing up in an almost agonizing pace, "Again," he whispered, as he pulled away to stare into her eyes.

"Again?" She was surprised he wanted another round.

His lips tugged into another smirk, and this time, there was a mischievous gleam in his pools of emeralds. "Yes... Again..." he whispered, withdrawing another stick from the box, and noticing there was still seven left. He bit on his end, before lifting his gaze to study her flushed face, and a moment later, he wriggled the stick in his mouth, almost as if questioning her if she wanted it or not. "Come on, I want to see who wins this time," he said, his voice slightly muffled but obviously eager.

"W-well, if you insist," Botan stammered, although she herself was impatient to try it again. Biting on her end, she waited until Kurama made the first move. Which he did, taking a bite of the stick while keeping his eyes still on her. She bit also, and this time, the duo edged closer to the middle than they did before, but at the last moment, Botan gave a sharp tug at her end, resulting to his end to snap off. She quickly swallowed and gave him a triumphant look.

"I win this time," she announced proudly, a giggle escaping her at the irritated stare he sent her.

"That wasn't playing fair," he murmured.

"Oops. Sorry. My bad," she teased, reaching a hand out to take another stick out the box, "Wanna go again?" she taunted, whilst thinking to herself that it would be fun to see that look on his face again.

But, Kurama had other plans. "No," he said, firmly, and before she could reach for the box, placed it out of her grasp, setting it on the desk. She pulled a confused expression at him, which was briskly replaced by a startled one, as she realized his lips were mere inches from hers.

"K-Kurama...?"

"Enough games," he growled again, low and husky, and before she could comprehend what he meant, crushed his lips against hers. She was taken aback and almost broke off the lip lock but managed to stop herself and pushed forward. He kissed her passionately, as passionately as he could as their mouths moved rhytmically against each other. Past the slight lingering taste of cracker and chocolate, there was still undeniably tastes of his minty lips and her strawberry ones.

She gasped at the feel of his tongue probing at the entrance of her mouth, and without any hesitation, parted her lips to grant the wet appendage permission to enter. He explored her wet cavern in skillful stretches and swirls, before stroking softly against hers. It felt weird, because she'd never done this before, but also good. Really good. And she started to touch and rub back with equal fervor as he hungrily devoured her lips.

His hands gripped tightly on her hips, his sharp nails digging lightly into the soft, plump mounds, as hers found residence in his hair, tugging and playing with the silky red strands. Neither were willing to break off the heated kiss, their tongues fighting for dominance as their teeths bumped once a while. Her pants were like music to his ears, as he broke apart only for a moment, before meeting her pink mouth with his again. But this kiss lasted shorter than the one before, lingering on her lips only for a second, brief and chaste, and featherlike, before he eventually, but reluctantly, pulled away.

"Now that, my dear, was a french kiss," his gasping but amused voice told her, upon seeing the bewildered look in her amethyst orbs.

"I-I know that," she stuttered, trying vainly to sound haughty, only to fail miserably when she came out timid instead, "I-I just wanted to know why..."

She didn't manage to finish. "I guess," One of his hands traveled up her arm, his fingers lightly grazing at the covered skin, while his other one remained on her hip, "it has something to do with my feelings for you."

Her eyes widened as she caught on to what he meant. She stared at the smiling redhead with a disbelieving look. "F-feelings?" she nearly shrieked, surprised, but on the inside, she was skipping out of joy.

"Yes," he whispered, lying his forehead against hers, as their eyes met contact, "I love you," he confessed, his voice laced with heavy emotion and love all for her, and he repeated, "I love you."

"Y-you really mean that?" Botan could hardly believe her ears. She wanted someone to come and pinch her in the cheek so she would know for sure this wasn't a dream.

"Yes, I do," he said amusedly, gazing at the girl, whose face immediately reddened into a bright crimson. "I really do."

"S-since when?" She couldn't help but ask.

Kurama shrugged his right shoulder lightly. "I don't know for sure, but one thing I know for certain is that I felled for you. Without realizing when and where and how, I did." For her purity, her selflessness, her brightness, and everything that he was not. But, he needed to hear her answer. "What about you?"

Botan's blush darkened a bit, but then, she mumbled, "I... I've had a crush on you from the start... since I first met you... I couldn't help it, you're a very, um, attractive man..." She squirmed a little under his gaze, mirth and amusement dancing in his eyes as he told her to go on. "... But then, I got to know you better... and what I initially thought was an adolescent crush... became so much more than that..." she paused briefly, to take a deep breath, and despite herself, looked straight into his eyes, "I... I felled in love with you." A demon, which was practically forbidden under Reikai rules, but she could care less about that.

He smiled. "Good, because I don't know what I'd do if you were in love with someone else." And that was the truth. And as he stared at her, her pink, glossy lips, those bright, amethyst eyes and that soft sky blue hair, he wanted no one other than her, and any man who would dare to glance her way, would suffer from his wrath.

"Never," she responded, shaking her head. "So, what do you want to do now?" she asked, all of a sudden, and blushed yet again, as he leaned in and placed another brief kiss on her lips. Pulling back, she could see him smirk at her, studying her with those mischief filled orbs again, which signalled that the fox within was at play.

"Well, my sweet and lovely peony," he whispered into her ear. "I don't suppose you would like another round?"

And with that, they started the games yet again.


End file.
